Dr. Ytterbium G. Bedcannon

PhD, MSIE, RHMS, BBQ

The web home of the world-renowned Xenoterric Art scholar

Hello again! This is once again Dr. Ytterbium G. Bedcannon. Thank you for indulging me at SFMOMA, and for doing so well! There were things I felt like I could share with you that we weren’t able to do so on the premises, so I have worked to put this site together to put my extra notes. I would like to sincerely thank two individuals, Sarah Billet and Jimmy, without whom I would not have been able to share my research with the wide audience of SFMOMA.

If you enjoyed my tour and the journey of discovery you undertook, I would highly recommend looking into the Elsewhere Philatelic Society, who are hosting this webpage here on the Internet. You can find instructions on how to apply to the Society on their “home page” and also on their page dedicated to application information.

Additional notes: Lick and Lather

April 2, 2012

(Here are some more of my notes about other pieces within SFMOMA!)

With this work, we can better appreciate that there are as many ways to observe as we have senses and modes of understanding. The very taste, smell, and feel of a piece are effective means of invoking delight and conveying meaning, as appreciating the tonalities of a concert, the hue and shade of a painting or collage, the sense of time and narrative invoked in a motion picture, a sense of context when we discuss how works have historical importance. Alas, we are limited in this instance to observing by sight only. A note to the incautious and impulsive: I have tried, on previous occasions, to more directly appreciate the flavor of this work… so to speak. It has never ended well, unless one prefers to be forcibly ejected from centers of cultural relevance.

Additional notes: Frieda and Diego Rivera

March 28, 2012

When Sarah and I were organizing my tour, we ran up against the limitations of paper. Of all things. I would have thought that the information I had to present would surpass the limitations of the printing press, but alas no. We could not discuss all the things we wished to impart to you, the knowledge seeker. Fortunately, if you've made it this far, I now have other ways of providing instruction. And so I shall!

As we look upon this lovely couple, members of contemporary, in-the-know collectives will undoubtedly recognize the importance in the pattern of repeated shapes in her shawl and barely-disguised form of certain jewelry. Most exciting—if you would allow me to speak personally—is how records point to these two belonging to the same organization concerned with xenoterric artifacts to which I myself once claimed membership. It’s noteworthy that the avian friend of our couple is known to be an older relative of a high-ranking member of the present-day Elsewhere Philatelic Society. She was known to harbor jealousy of fledgelings of more vibrant plumage, and compensated by coloring her wingtips.

Show me, show me, show me!

January 14, 2012

Of course! I should have thought of this. If my camera works near Xenoterric energies, then yours probably will, too! Kaidan, who is helping me with this website, tells me that many people like to share photographs and motion pictures on the Web. Have you any records of you and your companions taking my tour? If so, send the links to the email address we have set up for this occasion: xen wait ah. Kaidan wants to say something.

(Hello, this is Kaidan Tansu of the EPS. Dr. Bedcannon does not understand what a spambot is, and he will not listen when I try to explain it to him. Anyway, we will not be able to host your files, but you can send URLs of any photos and movies to: xeno [at] stampsfromelsewhere [dot] com.)

A motion picture!

I am pleased to discover my camera works in conditions involving dimensional interference. Perhaps I can utilize that.

Note to Self

December 12, 2011

275-017 - SPDT Switch with 3/4” roller lever

64-3017 - Machine hex nuts (Size 2-56)

64-3010 - Machine hex screws (Size 2-56)

1/4 lb. Salmiakki (Tyrkisk Peber?)

Reminder: Holiday orders for my paper

November 29th, 2011

Just a reminder, if you’d like to give a signed copy of my paper “Xenoterric Art Symbology and Empowered Visual Networks” to a collegue for Christmas or another holiday, your last day to order is December 2. Download the abstract now!

Unfairly Accused

November 24th, 2011

How dare they!

This is hardly my fault. When an artist posts a piece of art made of chocolate and soap and the label next to it reads “Lick and Lather”… how was I supposed to know that’s a title and not merely instructions for participation?

ONLY TWO IN FIFTY CLEAN

November 12, 2011

Since I have this website, I might endeavor to keep some notes here. Take this, for example: from the New York Times, July 23, 1916 (Click this or image to enlarge):

If only I had seen this before, I would have noted it in my research into the human body’s reaction to licking a variety of stamp-like objects; perhaps I could have avoided the antibiotic series that was required from the set I found on the street, as well as that strange psychedelic reaction I had from those odd tiny stamps acquired from that colorfully-dressed man on Haight Street.

Incredible news!

November 8, 2011

Sarah Billet has done amazing things again! She has managed to pull some strings at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and has put my most recent curated tour in their upcoming exhibition at the Koret Education Center! The so-called ArtGameLab, which I find a curious choice of names; nonetheless I’m very excited to have my research acknowledge by an institution of this stature… Finally, the academic respect I deserve.